Our 5th Year Cruising the Bahamas!

When the leaves turn color and begin to fall off the trees, that is our clue that it is time to toss off the dock lines and head south. All the planning, hauling and painting, maintenance, and provisioning has been done over the summer. Of course, this work intensifies during the last month of October until we are exhausted. The last week, we move onto the boat and start to live on the boat. This is done to make sure that we have taken all the important stuff with us while we still have the ability to rectify that situation.

Bob had his left knee replaced this summer and after lots of rehab is back walking normally. Knowing we planed on making this trip again this year, was good incentive for him to get back in shape. We will see if he needs the right one done next summer when we return.

The first weather window we had to leave was Monday, October 31st. This followed several days of windy and wavy weather on the bay. Heading out in the morning, our neighbors we all gone, so there was no one to give a farewell "toot" to, until we passed John and Joan Miles house. They were paying attention and came out and waved their American Flag to us giving us a great send-off. We will see them again in June. Thanks John and Joan!


There was a beautiful mist over the creek in the morning when we left.

We entered the bay in wonderful calm water on a sunny day, that unfortunately, changed dramatically about half way to Norfolk. Winds shifted to our Port-side beam, waves increased to 3 -4 feet. This made for a pretty uncomfortable trip. I had to run around the boat and attempt to secure everything that was falling all around the boat. Luckily, nothing broke except and couple of plastic toss-able cups.

We had planned to stop at Top Hat Marina on the south side of Norfolk area in Chesapeake, VA for the night, but upon calculating our arrival upon reaching Norfolk, we realized that we would not reach that marina until well after dark. So we abandoned that plan and went to the Norfolk Naval Sailing Marina on the north side. There we watched the weather continue to deteriorate and decided to stay put there on Tuesday.

Wednesday turned out to be a fine day, so we headed out around 7:30, catching all the bridges going south. No matter how hard you try and plan, there are a couple of "un-known" bridges that are railroad bridges that have no set schedule. As a result, the best laid plans can go awry. We did the "boat dance" circling around with about 10 other boats waiting for bridges to open.

Once we reached the Great Bridge Lock, we were just one of four boats. The other boats had taken the canal leading to the other route south down the Dismal Swamp Canal.


Looking aft in the lock


Looking forward in the lock


This is the Great Bridge that is the only cantilevered bridge on the Atlantic ICW.

Our stop for the night was at the Coinjock Marina. Bob loves to stop there for their massive prime rib and seafood dinners. It's a heart attack on a plate! (I often listen to conversations and heard this one at a Bob Evans Restaurant in Jonesborough, TN this fall and I think it could apply here - "What I really want is a cinnamon bun as big as a hearse!" Just substitute prime rib for cinnamon bun.)

After a nice dinner and a walk of the docks talking with other boaters, we settled in for the night so we could get an early start. We have some rainy and windy weather headed our way in a day or two and we need to cross Currituck and Albermarle Sounds.

Bob was up before dawn getting the boat checks done and we left before the sun came up along with a lot of boats from Coinjock. The fog was pretty bad in the morning and we hoped for the sun to burn it off quickly. It took a while, but the world finally put on glasses and we could see clearly again.

It turned into a a very calm day to cross some large bodies of water and we enjoyed the cruise. We will be anchoring for the night along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

Watching the weather, it became clear that Saturday and Sunday were not going to be good cruising days. We had planned to visit with relatives in Swansboro, NC, but did not think we could make it on Friday as the winds and weather were picking up. Luckily, we did make it to Swansboro, NC. Friday night. The winds were fierce Friday night and Saturday. We watched the sailboats tied up next to us, hobby-horsing from the wave action.

We were at Caspers Marina, which is a small marina. Four sailboats and the "Coastal Queen" were there with us for the very windy night. I found this article on the Coastal Queen. http://www.ssentinel.com/index.php/news/article/famous_wooden_yacht_repaired_in_deltaville/

Saturday, we walked around the town after breakfast. It is an old coastal town with quite a history. Lots of houses built around the turn of the century. The little town had several nice restaurants and gift shops. Bob found a barber shop and got his hair trimmed (his annual pony-tail trim).

In the afternoon, two more boats came in to the marina. One was a beautiful Fleming Trawler and it turns out we have seen "Sundancer" in Sampson Cay in years past.

The other boat with quite a history called "The Washingtonian," a 1939 Trumpy yacht arrived. Here is a link to the information of this pretty boat. http://www.thewashingtonianyacht.com/index.php


Photo of The Washingtonian with the Coastal Queen behind her.


Pretty Penny at Caspers Marina.

Now, the marina is full-up for the night. Most all the boats except us and a sailboat stayed another day at the marina. I spent the morning in the pilot house watching all the traffic on the ICW and porpoises playing in the water around the marina. As the day went on, the marina started to fill up again. Bob's daughter Krista, her husband Randy and grandsons Ryan and Sam came to the marina and met us for dinner. It will be our last chance to see them until our return next spring.

Monday morning, we were the last to get underway from the marina at 6:30, although we caught up and passed the other trawlers by mid-morning. Our stop tonight will be in Southport, NC.

Remember, if you set up an account with Blogspot, (no cost), you can sign up to be notified by email whenever I make a blog post, saving you from having to check and see if there is a post or not.